


hey batter batter (won't you swing my way)

by driedupwishes



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Baseball, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Mindless pointless rough-housing and fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-18
Updated: 2015-02-18
Packaged: 2018-03-13 16:48:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3389063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/driedupwishes/pseuds/driedupwishes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren blinked watching them, getting the worst idea. It was going to cost him his kneecaps, destruction via bat. But…</p>
<p>Oh <i>god</i>, but it’d be worth it.</p>
<p>“Levi,” he shouted, twisting to find the man already halfway to the away dugout where their stuff was. The older played turned, eyebrows climbing, and Eren enjoyed the few seconds of dawning horror on his face as he bolted toward the shorter man.</p>
            </blockquote>





	hey batter batter (won't you swing my way)

Their tiny crowd was split between cheering and booing when Armin called the game to an end. Eren couldn’t help but shout, bouncing his head back against the fence, adrenaline still hot in his veins. He was sweaty and covered in bits of grass, dirt all the way up his pants and stuck under his shirt from his slide to second base in the third inning, but it didn’t bother him. Being filthy just added to the excited crowing in his chest, not to mention how his muscles burned, breath still rattling in his chest after Farlan’s hit.

“This is _bullshit_ ,” Reiner shouted, storming in from the leftfield, face flushed red from a combination of late winter sun and anger. “We could go another two innings, easy! What the fuck, Armin?!”

Armin, despite their seven inches height difference, scowled up at Reiner like he was a bug crawling on the side of his shoe. “Listen,” the shorter blonde growled out, stepping forward the meet the march of the angry professional player so that he could shove his finger against the other man’s chest. “I have been out here for _hours_. I have gotten hit _twelve times_. Everything I’ve called has been argued by least _six fucking people_ before you shitheads shut up and took it and I’m done. I’m just fucking _done_. The score is seven to five; if you want to bitch about it, bitch to someone who _fucking cares_.”

The entire field stopped. The cheering and booing in the metal stands stopped. Eren thought he was going to die, because Armin looked three seconds from using their single year of martial arts training when they were ten to put Reiner on the ground and _step on him_.

It was the funniest thing Eren had ever seen. He bit his tongue on an exhausted bubble of laughter, shoulders shaking a little from where he was sprawled, half propped up against the chain link behind the batter’s box.

“Holy shit,” Ymir said, hands on her hips as she stood next to first base. “He’s finally snapped.”

“Shove it, Freckles 2.0,” Armin said. He was smiling a little bit in the corner of his mouth, but it wasn’t a nice smile. Eren was strangely proud. “Unlike you fucks, I’m still in school,” he continued, turning scowl at everyone as a group, “which means I’m leaving, to go finished that paper I was supposed to have finished _this morning_.”

“Love you, Armin,” Sasha shouted from centerfield. Armin sighed, throwing his hands in the air as he turned to leave. The call was echoed by the rest of the field on both teams, with varying degrees of nicknames and sheepishness abound. Marco sounded the most sincere, but Erd sounded the most sarcastic.

Jean, from his position at shortstop, scowled. “Can’t believe we fucking lost,” he grumbled, just loud enough to be heard as he rubbed the spot on his arm where Petra’s hit had landed early on in their game. All the girls had been aiming for Jean since his comment before they’d started, about it being unfair that his team had more girls weighing it down than Eren’s. He’d shouted out a panicked apology after a stray pop-fly from Mikasa had nearly crushed his thumb through his glove, which had drawn a small curved smile from Annie in their spare catcher’s gear, despite the fact that she was supposed to be on Jean’s team.

Eren flipped him off gleefully, laughing when he made an equally rude gesture back. He reached up to take Farlan’s hand as the other player walked by, swaying to his feet with a small laugh bordering on a giggle. They’d been out on the field, messing around on a lazy Sunday for five, maybe six hours, and he’d been up all night playing video games with Marco and Connie, who looked equally blissed out on exhaustion, dirt covered as they wandered in from their positions as rightfield and second base.

“Nice hit,” Eren said, hauling Farlan into a hug before his teammate could escape. The other man had been the last out, but his hit had let Eren and Petra haul ass over home plate, scoring them the winning two points. Farlan hummed out a little laugh, thumping him on the shoulder before he pulled away.

“Nice running,” the blue eyed man said, grinning crookedly. Eren returned it, laughing a little when Isabel came tearing out of the home side dugout, screaming gleefully as she drew closer. Farlan, who had long ago mastered the art of catching the red haired she-demon in disguise without falling over, opened his arms, smiling as she launched into his arms. He spun her around in a lazy circle, not seeming bothered by her shrieks at all.

Eren blinked watching them, getting the worst idea. It was going to cost him his kneecaps, destruction via bat. But…

Oh _god_ , but it’d be worth it.

“Levi,” he shouted, twisting to find the man already halfway to the away dugout where their stuff was. The older played turned, eyebrows climbing, and Eren enjoyed the few seconds of dawning horror on his face as he bolted toward the shorter man.

“Don’t you fucking _dare_ , Jaeger,” Levi shouted, scrambling back, but if he gave any more ground he was going to be pinned against the fence. He bolted out onto the field instead, shoving past Gunther as he tried to escape Eren.

Levi was usually faster, but Eren had a half baked idea that was probably going to get him punched and determination on his side. Levi had barely past second base when Eren caught up enough to lunge forward, throwing his weight against the other player’s back.

Fortunately for them both, Levi had spent a good chunk of his existence as Isabel’s second favorite personal climbing tree, so he didn’t completely fall over at the sudden addition of Eren’s weight against his back. Unfortunately he still stumbled, kicking back against Eren’s legs hard enough that he knew it would bruise. Eren yelped but held on, even when they teetered dangerously to the side, coming to a pin wheeling stop in the outfield.

Levi shuddered a little bit, the feeling going from his back and shoulders into Eren’s already heaving chest. He wasn’t too out of shape, but he had been slacking on personal training in the last few weeks. Erwin was going to run him ragged when practice started in a few weeks, but a little more time sleeping in late and staying up playing games into the small hours of the morning was totally worth extra laps. Eren locked his arms a little tighter around Levi’s waist, leaning down to rest his cheek against the top of Levi’s head. The shorter man’s hair was sweaty, but so was Eren’s cheek.

“You’re _disgusting_ ,” Levi complained, but he leant back against Eren’s chest, shaking a little with how out of breath he was. Eren smiled, shrugging hard enough that it jarred into Levi’s back and made him growl. “I’m serious, brat, get the fuck off me or I’m going to break your kneecaps with my goddamn bat.”

Eren laughed, turning his head to press his nose down into Levi’s hair. He smelled like sweat and sunlight, like dirt and a little like sunscreen. It wasn’t a bad smell. He didn’t care that it was probably supposed to be.

“You’ve been saying that since the day we met,” Eren mumbled, voice warped by the way his cheek was squished to the top of Levi’s head, “but I’ve still got both my knees. You need to step up your game, man.”

“Step up _my_ game? You wish you were on my fucking level, you piece of shit motherfucking-“

“ _Oi_ ,” Hanji shouted behind them. They sighed in unison, Eren pulling back so that they could turn without tripping over each other. The sun was starting to set, making the brunette terror standing on the metal bleachers next to Krista’s tiny blonde form glow with the faintest tint of orange. “ _Stop flirting and come on; these losers are gonna take us drinking, remember?_ ”

Levi held up his middle finger above his head, gesturing toward the stands, but Eren could see the curl in the corner of his mouth and the mirth in his eyes. Hanji, Krista, and Isabel had spent all afternoon sprawled in the sun on those benches, being their makeshift crowd for their makeshift off season scrimmage. Eren had enjoyed their catcalls and gleeful half-baked cheers and he knew just from looking at Levi that the other man had too. He bumped their shoulders together, jarring Levi into taking a step and grinning when he turned to scowl up at him.

“Aw, come on,” Eren said, holding up his hands. Levi had never actually hit him and Eren didn’t think he ever would, but everyone had bets on the day the smaller man would snap and turn on Eren with a vengeance.

There were also bets on other things between the two of them, but Eren wasn’t supposed to know about those bets. Annie had told him anyway, more than likely because she wanted to see the expression on his face. It had been one of the four times Eren had heard her laugh in his life.

It was had been terrifying beyond all reason, but also a little sweet.

Annie was a strange woman.

“Why are you so _touchy_ ,” Eren whined, drifting closer as Levi tried to step away. The look Levi shot him was acidic, but in a warm fizzy way. It reminded Eren of his first camping trip, where he’d been so enamored with the fire pit that when no one was looking he leant forward, touching the edge of the embers curiously. One lecture and more burn cream that Eren liked to think about more than a decade later and Eren still had that pull in him, the pull to dangerous burning things.

And nothing, in his opinion, burned the way Levi did.

“You’re the touchy one,” Levi grumbled. But he drifted closer as they crossed the base lines, heading toward the dugout where Auruo and Erd were shoving each other aside for the chance at the last water in their cooler. “Touchy feely freak.”

“And you’re a rude little grump,” Eren shot back. He took an extra step, hip checking Levi as he passed him, and skipped ahead as fast as he could before the shorter man’s revenge could follow. Levi made a rough low noise of exasperation on his heels and Eren laughed, still floating on the warm muscle tingly feeling of exhaustion and the entertaining idea of Jean’s team paying for their drinks. He glanced back at Levi, glancing at him between his lashes as he ducked through the door, sidestepping Moblit as he turned.

“Come on,” he said, voice dropping like everyone in the dugout couldn’t hear him clear as day. “You heard Hanji; we gotta stop flirting and get ready to go out.”

Something in Levi’s face twitched and Eren wasn’t dumb enough to believe it was affection at first. But then his eyes went warm and soft and the other man’s mouth curved into a smile, which made Eren’s spine dance with the sensation of ghost fingers on his skin.

“Kiss my goddamn ass, brat,” Levi answered, voice just as low, just as quiet, and Eren wanted to sit in that moment forever, Levi smiling at him, sun shining, Jean’s loss fresh, but he couldn’t. In the next second Levi shoved him into the chain link fence of the dugout wall, moving past him to get to his bag, and Eren ignored the look Petra gave him from the bench in favor of watching Levi walk away.

Yeah, dirty victory hugs were good, but baseball pants?

Baseball pants were God’s gift to mankind.

**Author's Note:**

> for some daft reason I was at work yesterday and found myself missing baseball like a motherfucker.technically I played softball, but still. so I wrote dumb idiots mucking around after a game. also I went back and forth about the last line to this like, IDK, six times. but I can't come up with something I like more, so there you go.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed!


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